Various means have been used in the prior art to attack and defeat armor. In the past, where multiple targets were desired to be defeated which were spread over a relatively wide area, a rocket or artillery warhead was used. These munitions frequently contained deployable submunitions. A problem with conventional prior art devices was in their inability to defeat newly developed armor which utilized certain combinations of materials. Such new combinations of armor were effective to stop munitions containing shaped-charges or munitions containing kinetic energy penetration in the form of heavy metal rods or those which used self-forging fragments. The increases in the size of the warhead charge in the submunitions was only partially effective against such new armor. The increase in size of the warhead reduced the number of submunitions that could be packed into a projectile and thereby limited the number of targets which could be attacked and thus decreased hit probability. Application of the use of higher energy explosives, while slightly improving the penetrability of the target, still failed to defeat the armored target and also significantly increased the cost of the munition.
This invention is concerned with ordnance of the type denominated improved conventional munitions. The advantages of improved conventional munitions are many: one particular advantage thereof is as a countermeasure to enemy usage of modern armored vehicles.